RUGBY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1539, 7 September 1912, Page 12

RUGBY.

..• -.--'"■",- ■ tJ3i AfcisTOßßtrs.] . .T:W~.«'-.'l:: , —- ...■■ ■Wellington; v. Wanpanui—Letter by the Selector. '•' 'During" the \ week "Aristobulus" invited the Bev.- William B. Scott, sole selector of-theiWajiganuKrepresentntive fifteen, to state ;VJiis.'. broaa impressions of the match Wellington v. Wanganui. Mr. Scott-; has responded with, a very candid letter, portions of which will do Wellington players :good. He-states: .-'■ last; Saturday's' match—Wellington v. -WnnganuiT-'drew.. a ! -large crowd .of 'Spectators—the "largest'this season. It was t'hgnnibtt's.trump card,' and:the selector's reputation depended on tho showing Wanganui ■ would make. ~'.-■_ 'The vast crowd —for Wanganui—that attended went away Satisfied'that they had received' their money's worth, but there were many expressions of disappointment ■ that such a good game should have been '•marred by accident. To some, it seemed ;•; like players being 'Tjutchered to make a ■ Roman holiday." Certainly the accidents ■ were.too numerous. All sorts of rumours J.were.in circulation, but, as one who stood, ■ on'the line and watched the game closely, Ti I cannot' find serious fault with any of "the playera of either side. * The referee came in for a rather severe ■criticism, but those who know Mr. Lance < Craig know how fair he is. Had he been * as strict in' the first spell as he was in -the second, so much "playing the man" « would not have taken ,• place, and which ''•may nave been partly responsible for any "Toughness that took place. There is no :'■ doubt,, however, that some of the Wel- ■- lington men are past-masters in the art of /•"pointing," and they beat our men and ', tho referee again and again. . ■ - Till the middle of the second spell WαJnganui did ,well, as, for the first twenty' "minutes, they had Wellington penned in J ''their own twenty-five. The accident to one of Wanganui s hookers (Bishop) spoiled our" pack, and Tilyard's withdrawal ■' broke up the back combination. M'Kenzie and Ramsden thon got to work, and, from 13 to 9 tho score went up to 26 to 9. . Wanganui suffers from having a repreeentative team picked from a district ■ranging from Waverley to Ohakune. The •■" lack of opportunity of getting together to' ' train and require combination, and a hard - match like last Saturday's, tested the ".forwards' staying powers to the breakiug■j point.' Then we have to give, away so >■ much weight. In addition, the selector 1 was a much-disgruntled man on Saturday when he discovered that all the emergencies would be required, on account of Mitchinson, Ongley (who has played a . splendid five-eighths game this season), /and Tansey being unable to take the !■ field. Four of the backs met Wellington ; for the first time, and their weights were:- ■ 10st. 81b., 10st. 71b., lOst.Tlb., 10st.

I One of the forwards had only played ' three games this season. When these j.things are taken into consideration, we ' y _iee\ satisfied' that we wore able to hold .' Wellington so well.- Our place-kicking and potting were dreadful. On more than- - one occasion points ehould hare been " added. It was probably due to nervousness on the,part of the kickers. I) At the same time, after making every ? allowance, we Tecognise the superior skill '■ and condition of the men from the Capii tal city. ... Wβ are deeply grateful to Wellington .for granting us this match, at so much inconvenience to themselves. It has swelled the exchequer of the union, and it has helped to win back for Eugby its •■ old-time popularity in spite of the "incidents" of the day. The success of Eugby football here during this season should give the game a big fillip for the next season.—l am, etc., ' WILLIAM B. SCOTT, ' . ■ Selector, ' Merely Barik Gossip, r : : Surprise was expressed in many quarters at the non-inclusion of Perry in either of the next representative teams. It was generally expected; that: after his '-fine' showing on Saturday last that he wouldeasily gain a placo in- the B team; '- Ha! Here they.are.at.lasKwith, a pro-'; ject to improve/the game. l ''-Canterbury is the author. ■'It is now just four years' since The, Dominion began to state that the game could do with some improvement. What a cachinuation" then arose from a number of other journals—principally the "Evening Post. .•' , But how arc we going, to improve it? The best improvement would bo to cut 'down the number of players to thirteen aside. That, unfortunately, would mean separation from England—a serious thing. One would dread to see the game 'bound hand and foot and delivered up to the elap-dash New Zealand stylo of legisla- . tion. 1 Assorted that when the Auckland roar in favour of Auckland was at its height in the Shield match/ Wellington still "-had ono' sturdy only contrived to niako himself heard above the din. The.redoubtablo "one and only" ,was Dent, the Petone stalwart. . ■." A rather good, photograph of the Wellington team, posed in a haka, was taken at Eotorua, lioberts and Fraser show out ■ in the group as mighty rnngatiras indeed.* ■■• . •'■■ ...

' Qtiite a glitterso'mo time was spent by the -Wellington players at Eotorua. Mr. Pa'rata's launch was placed at their disposal, and there-'were other jolly doings." Cliff. Ramsden's laugh, at the theatre parties," threatens to pass into history as a 'mighty thing. ' Ono member of the team 6tates that it "used to set the whole theatre going." A well-known orator, who travelled round with the Wellington team, became so excited in tho course of an after-, dinner perforation, an<l gesticulated so lard that eventually he swept a. number of, articles off tho table, amid laughter and applause. SeveTal League players are complaining that they are being- "victimised" by their employers for deserting tho Rugby code, j This snrcly must bo an exaggeration. When the Eearlh Quakes! the Geese Gabble. ■ ~ ,•> , Unawares, and very innocently, we seem to ,havo shaken the island.' At least we iave shakon tho Auckland newspapers— ©specially the little ones: We did not' mean to do so with our playful (though ■very just) remarks about "Crimean medal nie'n," and "Maori War Ancients." We did not mean to hang out , pur shingle as professional earthquake-producers yet, and will never do so wlrile ''Aristobulos" remains the gentle soul he now. To :oin a new sayingi We. would not say "boo" to a goose. 'An'd'this is out of sheer love and admiration .for'the'whole tribe of 'geese, as you will see a little later. As indicated, various Auckland newspapers, and some people, havo been heavtng the egg of derision in our direction because we had something good : to say about the ivork of the Wellington selector and something candid to say. of the.method of selection adopted in Auckland. After four yoars' "unsparing criticism of Wellington football, we are now necused of bragging - about tho prowe.-s of the Blacks. It' this accusation, is sincerely made/ let it 'thunder down the corridors' of time that the hitherto immovable genius who pens these letters is ASTONISHED. But the goase!' Tho florist shall tting him a jbouqnetl . . . The Sin of Criticism. "You are discrediting the game," said the sermoniser with the hollow voice. "How '(" asked the scribe. _ "Yes, you ire," he continued. "You said something about tho Auckland team. That is discrediting the game." "The Clubman," whose football writings ire published in the "Sporting Review,' a small Auckland paper, has lunged at ''Aristobulos." His production, being intor..fotefl, amounts to what is stated in tho iunposod dialogue which is given above. ''Tho Clubman" objects to "Aristolulos's"'criticism of the Auckland Hugby (election, and winds up with. "Entlvusinsm loon runs to seed .... and is then liable ' to discredit the h'no traditions of a game. The Crime of Enthusiasm. A' logician such as wo hare already shown "The Clubman" to be will not lie disputed. Henceforward enthusiasm will be looked down upon by all who pride ihemselvea aa well-read people. We navo

' all boon deceived. Wo lwvo l>oen led to bclicvo that enthusiasm wiw almost essential to success. .If lliost> Ciroi'lc philosophers Tvci'o alive to-duy, how wo would mob them! How we would fall upon them and slay them for their having so grossly humbugged us! And what of some i of those by-gone Rugby giants whose shadows flit across one's mind! Gape and Ellison, -unless Memory is as fickle a jado as Humour, were enthusiastic, believed in enthusiasm, and promulgated their faith. Bnylys and the Goods, Auckland's scoring Whitesidc, Southern Jimmy" Duncan, "Off-side Mac," were all apostles nf Enthusiasm. But theii, ine Clubman's" dictum-let us not argue further '■ Enthusiasm, in the language of the classics, thy name is mud. Henceforth you are "discredited." ■ • v The Hope Sincere. Seeing the undesirable category in which enthusiasm is in future to be ranged, let it be sincerely' hoped that it was not enthusiasm which prompted ono of these, mosquito papers' to borrow a column of news from The Dominion and, publish it without acknowledging the original publishers of the matter. Wanted, an Esperantist. The northern logician says, also:—Our veterans don't wither away like the erotic athletics forced at Newtown Park. Anyone who knows Esperanto may , be able to understand the mixture of lettering in the sentence quoted. Some of us only speak English, and have hitherto understood "erotic" to have only a certain meaning. However, if The ■Mudman", ever chances to go abroad, he might arrange to pass through this village. "Wellington, south of Auckland, is the address. It will cost him nothing to see the monkeys in the Zoo; but if he wishes to seo the Rugby matches he had better attend at Athletic Park. Trams every few minutes. Fare, three-pence.. For "further'particulars see map. Ihere is not much Rugby at Newtown. The Weird Clan of Sporting Writers. : It seems to all come to this-: We said Auckland were somewhat time-worn/ heroes. So they are. Auckland now says that Wellington football does not amount to much. . Well, we have being saying something similar for four years. It requires some courage to say that in one s native village. The Auckland papers do not always exhibit that courage. Indeed, their sheets bristle with every man's name mentioned for good play in every match, and three cheers for everybody (in their own town) every time. There is no real football in them. They hardly seem to know it. They call this "sporting writing, and the more "sporting" the paper is the more they filch irom other 'journals. The Dominion's matter is taken without acknowledgment every week both north and south. Columns were taken both north and south last week. That is "sporting writing." Our own gentle but clearly-cut notion is that sport would suffer no harm whatever if nine-tenths of tho whole clan Df "sporting writers" were led out forthwith into the corridor and instantly boheaded. By the way, our League column this weok- indicates the sort of thing that may. be sheeted home to the "sporting writer' almost any time.

Collegiate Tournament Notes. A .Wanganui contributor sends the following:—The inter-college tournament— Wanganui, Wellington, and Christ's College—eventuated on the college grounds in Wanganui in beautiful weather. Wanganui had all the luck in winning. A win each would have indicated the merits of the teams. .Wellington's deadly tackling anil'splendid defenco; : came in for great appreciation from thVcrowd. MatthewBon,: at half, played the best back game on thpground on the last day. He is a coming. Wellington representative. His try' came as a great surprise to the Wanganui team. It was a great football week for Wanganui, five big games being played in' eight days, and at each match .there-was a crowd. The attendance at the 'college tournament averaged about 2500. r -, : -v ; . -J ■•The.-' Eev. B. Scott acted as referee. On Saturday morning he was treated to the unexpected. Having occasion to visit' the Aramoho station as the majl train, arrived, ho was given ."Three times three" by the departing teams, and was also bombarded with autograph albums by tho southern collegians.